Man arrested after shooting gun in Yarnell neighborhood while on meth

The suspect fired multiple rounds into the air before deputies arrived and arrested him.

Author:
Cameron La Fontaine

Published:
5:31 PM MST December 6, 2018

Updated:
5:41 PM MST December 6, 2018

YARNELL, Ariz.— The Yavapai County Sheriff's Office arrested a man who admitted to firing multiple rounds of a gun in the air in a Yarnell neighborhood Wednesday. It was later determined he was on methamphetamine.

On Wednesday afternoon, YCSO deputies were dispatched to a neighborhood on Young Lane in Yarnell for multiple shots fired reports.

The first deputy on the scene found a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol on the ground near a home. Neighbors said the suspect was inside a trailer nearby and identified him as Shannon Smith.

Deputies had neighbors stay in their homes as they set a perimeter around the trailer Smith was in.

Smith, 30, eventually opened the door and was told to surrender to deputies. According to YCSO, it looked like Smith was holding something in his hand while he was yelling unintelligible things at deputies.

One deputy that knew Smith from previous encounters had a conversation with him, asking him to cooperate. Smith asked deputies to shoot him, according to YCSO.

In an effort to detain Smith, who was still thought to be possibly armed, the deputy talking to Smith had him walk over to a specific point away from neighboring homes.

That's when deputies quickly detained him with no problems after he would not show them his hands. Smith wasn't holding a firearm, but his wallet among other objects.

Smith would not tell officers why he was shooting a gun in the air. Deputies later learned he was on active probation and not allowed to possess a firearm.

After executing a search warrant in his trailer, deputies found meth and a pipe for meth. A test later indicated it was in his system as well.

Smith was booked into the Camp Verde Detention Center on charges of misconduct involving weapons, disorderly conduct with a deadly weapon, six counts of endangerment involving witnesses and neighbors, possession of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia. He's in custody on a $1,500 bond.